Traumatic injuries of the thoracic aorta: The role of imaging in diagnosis and treatment.

Traumatic injury of the thoracic aorta remains the leading cause of death in multiple trauma patients and it requires urgent management. Computed tomography has a key diagnostic role and allows the clinician to choose an appropriate treatment strategy. The development of new classifications, based on a better understanding of the mechanisms of these injuries, has clarified the indications for treatment. Advances in techniques, especially in endovascular management, have contributed to improving prognosis for patients. Interventional radiology, which usually consists of endovascular placement of a covered stent, now constitutes the gold standard treatment in these injuries. Due to the potentially grave prognosis of these patients, it is crucial to know how to detect these injuries and to describe the imaging signs of serious damage.